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Mastering Legacy Code
Unlock the power of your inherited codebase and deliver new features with confidence.
Problem: Many software development teams struggle with modifying and extending legacy code. Any changes to the legacy codebase turn into error prone and time consuming tasks. This can significantly hinder productivity and innovation within the team and the organization at large.
Solution: While legacy code can feel burdensome, you can turn it into an opportunity by developing your team's skills in refactoring, testing, and modular design. This will empower them to navigate the codebase, fix bugs, and introduce new features without regressions.
Our Mastering Legacy Code offerings can help your teams up-level on this through a sequence of hands-on workshops. Choose from 3 types of offerings that are customized to fit the unique needs of your project and team.
Our Offerings to Help Your Team
  • A 4-day Dealing with Legacy code workshop
  • 2-day program with complex examples and advanced techniques
  • A 4-day Dealing with Legacy code workshop
  • 2-day program with complex examples and advanced techniques
  • AI tools to enhance your team's confidence in working with legacy code.
Challenges of Working with Legacy Code
1
Lack of Automated Tests
Inherited codebases often lack comprehensive test suites, making changes risky and time-consuming.
2
High Failure Rates
Frequent bugs and regressions due to the fragile nature of legacy code.
3
Slow Delivery
Making even minor changes can be a long and arduous process.
4
Sleepless Nights
Teams struggle to maintain and improve the codebase, leading to stress and burnout.
Techniques Teams Need to Learn
1
Understand the Codebase
The first step in effectively managing legacy code is to broadly understand the existing system. Explore the code, identify its structure, dependencies, and pain points. Analyze the code's architecture and identify areas that are particularly complex or poorly documented. This foundational knowledge will be crucial for making informed decisions about how to improve and maintain the codebase.
2
Automated Testing
Implement test suites to ensure changes don't break existing functionality. Start by identifying the most critical and frequently used parts of the application, and focus on writing tests for those areas first. As you continue to work on the codebase, expand your test coverage to include a wider range of functionality. Automated tests will provide a safety net, allowing you to make changes with confidence and reduce the risk of regressions.
3
Refactoring and Maintainability
Gradually improve the code quality and readability over time, making it easier to work with in the long run. Look for opportunities to simplify complex logic, remove duplicate code, and improve naming conventions. Refactoring should be an ongoing process that happens in step with the bug-fixing and development stories, not a one-time event. As you become more familiar with the right techniques, you'll be able to identify patterns and anti-patterns, and make targeted improvements that enhance the overall maintainability of the system.
4
Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
Fostering a collaborative environment is crucial for effectively managing legacy code. Encourage team members to share their insights and expertise, and create opportunities for cross-training and knowledge transfer. This will help ensure that the team has a collective understanding of the codebase, and that institutional knowledge is not lost when team members move on. Regular code reviews, pair programming, and retrospective discussions can all contribute to a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
Bronze
Mastering Legacy Code Workshop
Our hands-on workshops on Mastering Legacy Code offer an interactive learning environment for teams looking to develop their skills in refactoring and managing legacy code. Led by experienced instructors, these workshops provide practical exercises and real-world examples that equip participants with the tools and techniques needed to confidently tackle complex codebases. Through practice and feedback, teams can gain the confidence and competence they need to maximize the value of their legacy systems.
4-day hands-on workshop
Participants: 10 developers
Learning Objectives
Learn techniques for implementing automated testing to ensure changes are safe
Develop skills in making incremental improvements to the code safely
Gain proficiency in identifying and addressing common code smells and applying appropriate refactoring techniques
Foster a collaborative team environment through knowledge sharing and pair programming
Build confidence in navigating and working with complex legacy systems
Silver
Bronze
Our Silver offering gets you everything in Bronze plus more
+
Complex scenarios and advanced techniques
Deeper Practice workshop takes the Silver offering to the next level by providing even more in-depth and challenging exercises.
We cover
1
Complex scenarios
Learn to implement the best practices from the Bronze workshop on a fresh set of complex scenarios
2
Redesign and Simplify
Use advanced techniques to redesign and simplify more complex codebases incrementally

Participants will leave the workshop with greater confidence, proficiency and expertise in maintaining and enhancing their existing codebases.
Gold
Leverage AI to master legacy codebases
The Gold offering combines the Silver program with an additional 2 days workshop on how to effectively use AI-powered tools to gain deeper insights into the codebase and functionality, write various levels of automated tests, and accelerate the improvement of your inherited codebase
Silver
Our Gold offering gets you everything in Silver plus more
+
Master AI Tools
Participants will learn to use AI to maintain and enhance their existing codebases
Learning Objectives
1
Leveraging AI-powered tools to analyze and understand legacy codebases
2
Techniques for using AI to automate the creation of tests
3
Using AI tools to identify potential areas for improvement in the code
4
Practical hands-on exercises with AI tools to gain proficiency in enhancing and refactoring legacy code for improved maintainability
Ready to Improve Your Legacy Code?
Contact us today to learn how our offerings can help your team unlock the full potential of your inherited codebase.
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